Britain on Saturday marked the 50th anniversary of the death of Winston Churchill, the iconic cigar-chomping prime minister who led his nation in defying Nazi Germany during World War II.

Churchill, who died aged 90 on January 24, 1965, was Britain’s prime minister through the war years of 1940 to 1945, and again in peacetime from 1951 to 1955.

Prime Minister David Cameron led tributes, describing Churchill as the country’s “greatest ever prime minister” in a video tribute in which he called on people to share their favourite Churchill quotations on social media.

“Churchill was our greatest ever prime minister and we owe him everything. In May 1940 that crucial decision to fight on against Hitler saved our country and arguably saved the world.”